The most bloated budget ever

Boston Globe ^ | 2/5/04 | Jeff Jacoby

[RJCogburn]

GO TO the White House website, and you can read George W. Bush's sober and reassuring words about his proposed budget for fiscal year 2005.

"We're calling upon Congress to be wise with the taxpayer's money," the president told reporters on Monday. "We look forward to working with them to bring fiscal discipline to the appropriations process so we can cut the deficit in half over a five year period of time."

[RJCogburn]

when the GOP swept the off-year elections in 1994, their Contract with America committed them to "restoring fiscal responsibility to an out-of-control Congress, requiring them to live under the same budget constraints as families and businesses."

As long as there was a Democrat in the White House, Republicans seemed to take that pledge at least semi-seriously.

Hypocrisy. A failure of leadership.

[westerfield]

It would have been one thing if the increased spending was due strickly to the war on terror and homeland security, but as this article illustrates, that isn't the case.

an indoor rain forest in Iowa, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, golf lessons for kids in Florida -- and thousands more.

Good grief, what happened to all the conservatives out there, how is all this pork getting thru at a time when we have record deficits?

[reformedliberal]

House Pubs said yesterday that they have enough votes in a coalition to slash this budget to the bone and have promised to do so.

Since the SCOTUS knocked down the line item veto, Congress is all we have. The Dems are now on record as complaining about deficits and even though they really want to spend even more, this is an election year and they may have to go along. Or maybe not.

Just the messanger, so no flames this early in the morning, please.

[NittanyLion]

Jeff Jacoby? Don't you know he's just a liberal pretending to be a conservative so he can disrupt the Bush campaign? Who did he vote for in 2000? Buchanan? He was never a Bush supporter to begin with...

*grin* Did I get them all?

[RJCogburn]

Since the SCOTUS knocked down the line item veto, Congress is all we have

Wasn't supposed to be that way with a Repub President...and Repub Congress.

[John Beresford Tipton]

"Wasn't supposed to be that way with a
Repub President...and Repub Congress"

[reformedliberal]

Probably why they are scrambling to do this now. Elections and all. I don't disagree w/you, BTW.

As long as there are taxes, people expect something in return.

[meenie]

The reverse is true too. As long as people want something there will be taxes. The man on the white horse will come along when people can no longer govern themselves. That time is fast approaching.

[inquest]

OK, can I flame you now? ;-)

The President has the capability to demand that Congress cut spending. Instead, he'd been urging them to increase it, so I don't really cut him much slack for the result.

If congressional Republicans are able to reverse course, so much the better. It would be a welcome change coming from them, but I won't give them credit until I see some action. At the very least, there needs to be some sharp words for those responsible for the increases, regardless of party affiliation.

[inquest]

If this is the result of one-party government, maybe one-party government isn't a very good idea. "We can't afford any more right-wing Republicans," Howard Dean says. "They're too expensive." Put me down as one conservative who thinks he's got a point.

Wow! That's become something of a hate crime around here. Anyone who said that would instantly have legions of harpies screaming "Democrat!", "Liberal saboteur!" I'd like to see one of these paranoid hotshots say the same thing about Jeff Jacoby. That oughta be fun.

[swarthyguy]

>>If this is the result of one-party government, maybe one-party government isn't a very good idea. "We can't afford any more right-wing Republicans," Howard Dean says. "They're too expensive." Put me down as one conservative who thinks he's got a point.

Hilarious. Please allow me,

DU'er, Troll, DEAN SUPPORTER, AlQaeda SUPPORTER, TRAITOR, KERRY LOVER,

Et, Tu Jacoby?

[reformedliberal]

Sure. I have lots of strong coffee in me by now. But I don't really take your post as a flame, which is why I'll respond.

I heard the President say he would veto this budget if it came back w/more money in it. I believe he was specifically responding to the Dems vows to add to the highway portion, but I am not 100% certain it was just that.

I do believe ther is some coordination between the House Republicans and the WH on this. The Dems are now in a corner after screeching about deficits

It's a Presidency of all the people, not a dictatorship. I am not pleased about a lot of the proposals and laws, but I will crawl thru flames and over broken glass to prevent even a chance of a Dem win in either Congress or the WH. I have no faith in any gridlock situation if there is a Dem POTUS.

[inquest]

I don't really take your post as a flame

What? Oh, I see the problem - I had the flame-thrower set on "1"; I thought it said "7". I really need to clean the darn thing off more often...

Anyway, I hadn't heard about his veto threat, but I'm happy to hear it now. But like I said, he (and they) still have plenty of work ahead, because of the massive increases over the last three years. The first priority is to get the spending tamed. The next is to get the tax cuts made permanent, so that the spending will stay down.

And I know he's not a dictator, but I do expect him to do what he can do. So far, my estimation is that he hasn't taken anywhere near enough advantage of his position to pull the country in a conservative direction. That may change, though - I'm hoping.